New Game Plus: Megami Tensei Style
by kagewolf
Summary: Seta Souji gets to learn what it truly means when the adventure never ends...


It didn't take much to remember Philemon. He was powerful, enigmatic, and his very gaze saw plans before they were fully formed. He was all that humanity could positively aspire to become. It was because him that there exists death and tension amongst your comrades. He spoke of many things: from contracts, Personas, and potential. But he also tells of his mistakes.

He told you of how your friends and world were dead on a mere whim. He told you how He made a wager with a certain someone that would lead to the extinction of your kind. He told you how the situation had spun out of control, and that in the end, the world- _your_ world-was destroyed. He also talks of a war being waged across realities.

The surreal being shook his head in mocking shame, because to express actual pity or remorse was a concept far below him. It was _human,_ something he delighted in getting you to realize he was not.

Despite not being quite human, he knew how to wield his words like a surgeon would wield a scalpel. He poked and prodded until he found what he wanted.

' _You are my soldier now, that contract will be fulfilled.'_

' _Such a shame about your friends; they had such bright futures only to be killed by shadows..'_

' _Perhaps it would be different if you had gotten to know them better? What was Satonaka's favorite food again? Why did Amagi hate her inn so much? Does Hanamura listen to Kanamin?'_

 _If you were a little stronger, a better leader… why else did you insist on going on overworking your team?_

A few minutes pass, but Philemon tires of playing mind games already. The only thing you remember before falling unconscious was a smirk that wouldn't look out of place on a certain member of the Velvet Room.

The next day finds you at a very familiar place among the high school students of Yasogami High. It was a small town, but there were too many dangers and unknowns that lurked behind it for Philemon's liking. The days skip on by as you find yourself in a familiar routine of trying to keep your grades up and friends unaware while also stopping the 'game ' of a deranged cop.

One particular time that your full party was assembled into world in the tv for training was also memorable. The newer recruits of Tatsumi and Shirogane don't know what to think about the carnage that you unleash on every shadow your team comes across, so they stay quiet about it. You do nothing to assuage these worries because by now you figure fear inspires greater loyalty than love. Besides, after the first cycle, it became tedious to do social links anymore if one wasn't bored. Damn you Ai.

You find yourself in familiar limousine with the finest velvet interior, yet there was a type of tension in the atmosphere that you could never really place; the dwelling had slowly garnered a level of urgency to it that wasn't present before you were bound to Philemon. Margaret acknowledges your presence with a solemn "welcome" and nothing more. Igor eyes you with his ever-present grin, however the corners of his mouth tighten at your presence. The denizens of the Velvet Room feel neither joy nor relief in your appearances; you are not the young man who they guided towards reaching out to the truth. Such a pity you no longer cared.

On this particular visit, they named you something peculiar: Child of Carnage. Your old name holds no purchase, and between your airy attitude and your heart of stone, you don't care much to correct them. For what it's worth, Igor was very intrigued with the resulting personas, and just for a second, you saw the genuine insane smile of the elderly gentleman.

That was the interesting thing about jumping into an alternate reality: even though they bore the faces of friends, family, and teachers, you could never be perfectly among them. Your friends and family were wiped from existence and the thought of never being able to get that same level of closeness back infuriates you. Still, you carry out Philemon's orders to locate the true enemy.

"You're holding a lot of secrets, aren't you senapi?" Shirogane asks almost casually. You were called out to a group discussion of how the case seemed to be holding up, but after Hanamura let it slip you didn't gain your persona from facing a shadow, it turned into an interrogation. Then it devolved into a shouting game. All of which were accusations being thrown at you of course.

You don't deign them with a reply. All you do is stand and glare. And in moments they feel something cold and snakelike churn in their stomachs. Four little word before you go back to house sets them straight.

"Calm the fuck down."

They are instantly on guard but still frozen from the threat you are. And for a split second, you remember the first cycle, when you and your friends were mirthful and at ease. Now it seems that this situation has devolved into something of a Mexican-standoff. A small part of you feels bad for the mind games being waged and the unsaid threats being sung, yet you justify it because their not the ones who spend eternity losing everything, and they're most certainly not the ones involved in Philemon's 'bet'.

You allow Izanami to scream bloody curses at you. At how you showed audacity to even be among the "sons of man" and how she would smite you. The battle with her was a long affair, yet the team managed. Although you can practically feel Shirogane's gaze on your back, her suspicions confirmed from the deity's words earlier. Luckily she chooses to let it slide instead of drawing an actual confrontation out.

The following morning finds you sore and heading out to meet 'your' parents. The Velvet Room had made itself scarce as its services weren't needed at the moment. It was a happy sendoff but as everyone gave a heartfelt farewell, you somehow _knew_ that the journey was far from being over.

Unfortunately that is the last, they see of you, forever.

A sudden wave of nausea and exhaustion overtakes your mind. And as you are seated, you slip in and out of consciousness until sleep wins over. When your eyes next awaken, you are in a familiar place of velvet. Except it was an elevator..?

"Their world is safe, yet you are far from done."

You turn head a bit and see Philemon standing over you. A snap of his fingers and a few painful seconds later, you find that in place of your silver hair that you've become proud of were bangs that fell to one side of your face. You also felt shorter too, but you were willing to attribute that to the chair you were in.

"In this new world, you must defeat the Star Eater, or as you humans call it "Nyx". In the spirit of this endeavor, I have cast aside your previous identity to give you a new one: Minato Arisato."

And you are released into another world, another existence. And the games start again.

It goes on like this for quite some time. You cross entire dimensions just to do Philemon's bidding; only to learn that the universes that dealt with personas was a test. Soon, demons and the Cathedral of Shadows replaced personas and the Velvet Room. Each reality needed you as a different hero: Hibiki Kuze, a demon tamer who shaped the world to the will of Polaris before overthrowing both it and Canopis; Raidou kuzunoha XIV, a paranormal detective who tamed both demons and angels and took down the soulless god; Naoki Kashima, the Hito-shura who had tread his way through life on an ocean of corpses; and several others that have been forgotten in time. However the dynamics between you and Philemon changed on one fateful reality

You had come across a particular reality that housed something called the Millennium Kingdom Project. It was to be a sovereign land that would be true paradise. But only a select few would be chosen while everyone else was to be annihilated. You watched horrified as mothers and fathers died in vain trying to shield their children; how siblings had manipulated one and other for profit. It was horrible, but it was the _truth of this world._ For the first time, you decided to turn against Philemon.

But Philemon was much mightier in this universe; he had a different name, one in which the people worshipped profusely. In a glorious contest of steel and fire, you were waging war on Creation and Destruction.

Philemon went down like the rest. Doing this also has it's own set of consequences however.

Your soul is cursed beyond a curse, and you still wander alone. You learn to push past such emotions as guilt, dread, disgust. You learn to appreciate the grit and hardship that such a daunting task requires, because there's no other way. A wound can mend itself with the passage of time, life continues on, and you find yourself hobbling precariously towards the future. It doesn't matter what happens anymore: you're the survivor of a dead world.

You have stopped keeping track of the faces and the smiles and the hardships. You do remember bits and pieces of the life you used to lead, but that's fading away too. It's usually a matter of Chaos, Law, Neutrality, and slavery these days.

This is a fate you would wish on no one. You are no longer a Wild Card, but you are the chew toy to a multiverse that desires nothing more than a champion

You reached to grasp the painful truth, but now you wished more than ever to go back to living that lie…


End file.
